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2 Nephi 20–25 | Scripture Study Insights with Tyler Griffin | A Come Follow Me Resource · Scripture Central

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Hello there. My name is Tyler Griffin and
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this is Scripture Study Insights by Scripture Central.
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Today, second Nephi chapters 20 through 25.
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I'm very excited to jump into these particular chapters of our
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scripture study because this is where we finish off that last
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big chunk of Isaiah chapters and then Nephi begins to give us his
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commentary. An important thing to remember
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is that our current edition of the Book of Mormon, the way it
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has chapters and verses that didn't exist until 1879 when
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Orson Pratt took the original versions, the 1830 edition,
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where there were no chapters, there were no verses the same
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way as they are here. They had much longer chapters,
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no footnotes, and he then broke them up into smaller chapters.
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So it's important to remember that chapters 2526 and 27 are
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one complete chapter in the original Book of Mormon.
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So this seems to be Nephi's follow up commentary on what he
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just read to us or recorded on the plates rather from second
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ephi chapters 12 through 24, that big huge Isaiah chunk of of
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chapters. So if you get into chapter
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20212223 and you're confused or you're you're not making sense
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of it, the recommendation is keep pointing back to chapter
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2526 and 27 and see what Nephi says about it.
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In fact, in chapter 25 after he finishes this this long section
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of Isaiah, he says now I need, if I do speak somewhat
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concerning the words which I have written, which have been
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spoken by the mouth of Isaiah. So he's he's going to give us
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this, this tutorial, this mentoring guidance on what he
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hopes that we get. And in verse four you'll notice
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he he acknowledges the fact that Isaiah is not your typical book
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of scripture as far as ease of understanding.
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And so he says, Wherefore hearken all my people which are
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of the House of Israel, and give ear unto my words.
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For because the words of Isaiah are not plain unto you,
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nevertheless they are plain unto all those that are filled with
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the spirit of prophecy. So Nephi in in this chapter he's
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giving us all of these keys to unlocking understanding in
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Isaiah. Obviously the the 1st is to
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understand the Jewish manner of prophesying in verse 1-2 and
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three, recognizing that Isaiah doesn't speak in Greek
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literalism, he speaks more in Hebrew symbolism.
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So he paints these pictures using symbols, and then he often
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repeats them, and then the invitation to pray for the
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spirit of prophecy. And then at the very bottom of
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verse four he says, I shall prophecy according to the
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plainness which has been with me from the time that I came out
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from Jerusalem with my Father. For behold, my soul delighteth
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in plainness unto my people that they may learn.
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So Nephi is saying, even though the words of Isaiah might not be
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completely plain to you because you don't understand his manner
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of prophesying or some of these other keys We're going to see
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later, he says, I'm going to speak unto you so plainly that
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you can't misunderstand. And then it's fascinating to
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note that in chapter 25 you get Christ mentioned 1819 times.
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Depending on how you how you number these multiple times,
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He's speaking very clearly, very distinctly of Jesus Christ.
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As if to say you don't have to understand all of the history,
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all of the manner of prophesying among the Jews.
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Or if we go down to verse 6, knowing concerning the region's
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roundabout, knowing all of the geography of the land from from
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whence Nephi and Lehi came, Those things help because that's
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the world. The history, the geography, the
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culture, the language, the people that is the world out of
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which these writings of Isaiah were, were created.
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But even if you don't understand that world, you can still
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understand the world that resides on the page of the
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Scripture and the world that these words create in our own
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life today with the spirit of prophecy and the spirit of
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Revelation. That's that's a beautiful
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promise given to us So very quickly, as an overview, before
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we go back and jump into chapter 20, it's important to remember
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that if you look at the geographical area over in the
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Holy Land, you get the Sea of Galilee.
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Here, Jordan River, there's the Dead Sea.
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Here's Jerusalem. It's important to remember that
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what used to be united Israel got divided in the Old
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Testament, and now Isaiah is living in the southern Kingdom
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of Judah. And above the Kingdom of Judah
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is the Kingdom of Israel, often referred to as Ephraim.
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And above the Kingdom of Israel is the Kingdom of Syria.
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And over here to the North East is the Kingdom of us Syria and
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over here to the east the Kingdom of Babylon.
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This is what is called the Fertile Crescent.
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And so they wouldn't Babylon, when they're going to conquer,
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they're not going to come probably directly W they're
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probably going to come through the more fertile parts where you
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can support an army of of men. And so here's the setup for
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everything that's happening in chapters 20 through 24.
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It's an example of these children of Israel, the House of
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Israel, rejecting God, turning their back on the Savior, on
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their Redeemer, and so him allowing different nations to
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come in. So in chapters 19 and 20 you get
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the Kingdom of Assyria who comes in.
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And remember that as Assyria is growing in their power and their
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dominion, Syria and Israel banded together and said let's
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get Judah to join us. And Judah refused.
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And so Syria and Israel banded together and said we're going to
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wipe out Judah and put a king of our choosing on the throne.
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So all of this is happening while Isaiah is the prophet in
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Jerusalem in the Kingdom of Judah at this very time.
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It's leading into 721 BC and the people are very nervous.
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What are we going to do? And I love what happens in
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chapter 2019 and 20. Actually, when Isaiah reassures
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them, he goes to the Lord, gets that reassurance, and he passes
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that on to the people that the Lord is going to help them if
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they'll just turn to him. Chapter 20 is all about King
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Sennacherib, who's the king of Assyria who has brought his
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armies. He's destroyed every Kingdom
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around him. He wiped out Syria.
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He he overcame the Kingdom of Israel and carried the 10 tribes
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captive and scattered them after killing many.
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And they're scattered among all the nations to the north.
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And then he'd come into the Kingdom of Judah, and he'd wiped
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out most of the cities except for Jerusalem, where Isaiah
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lives with King Hezekiah. And it's here in chapter 20,
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where the Lord, through the prophet Isaiah, makes it very
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clear what happens when we get so puffed up and think that
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we're the ones doing whatever it is that's that's being
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accomplished. In this case, King Sennacherib
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is congratulating himself. Notice in chapter 20, verse 13
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it says for he meaning Sennacherib saith, By the
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strength of my hand and by my wisdom, I have done these
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things. For I am prudent and I have
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moved the borders of the people and have robbed their treasures.
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And I've put down the inhabitants like a valiant man,
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and he's boasting in his accomplishments, feeling like,
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look, look how amazing I am. I love this next part because
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Isaiah flips now into this beautiful Hebrew poetic
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symbolism mode. Where he says verse 15 shall the
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axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith shall the
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saw magnify itself against him. That shaketh it as if the rod
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should shake itself against them that lifted up, or as if the
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staff should lift up itself as if it were no wood.
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He's basically reminding us if the Lord uses you as an
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instrument in His hands to accomplish his works, don't look
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at what is done and pat yourself on the back too long and feel
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too proud about what was accomplished, because there's a
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difference between being the artist and being an instrument
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in the hands of the artist. And so he makes that beautifully
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clear here in this chapter. And then if you turn over into
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Chapter 21, he describes how this House of Israel seems to
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have been cut down, wiped out, destroyed, largely other than in
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the the city of Jerusalem, that now they can start rebuilding.
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And there's this feeling that all is lost.
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Well chapter 21 talks about a rod coming forth out of the stem
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of Jesse and a branch shall grow out of his roots.
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A must have cross reference for your scriptures.
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Here is Doctrine and Covenants section 113 where Joseph is in
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AQ and a session with the Lord regarding many things here in
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chapter 21 or the equivalent Isaiah Chapter 11.
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So if you want to understand Chapter 21 symbolism better,
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then you use the resources given to us in Restoration Scripture,
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specifically in this case, Section 113.
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Now before we jump into Chapter 22, it's important to note here
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how easy it is to get caught up in history, in geography, in
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culture, in that world that is living underneath the
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scriptures. That is the foundation of these
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scriptures that created these words that we now have.
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And if we're not careful, we'll get so caught up in the history
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that we'll miss the fact that it's all about the Saviour,
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Jesus Christ, doing his work. It's really his story.
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So instead of just seeing people and wars and conquests, it's
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much more easily easy to liken the scriptures to us.
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If we can find him in these these pages, that it's really
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his story. And then it's easier to
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translate it into the world that we live and see our story, where
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we can see Jesus Christ, what He's doing for us as he
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delivered those who turned to him in Jerusalem in 721 BC, who
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felt like the whole world was crushing in on them and there
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was no hope for deliverance. As they turned heavenward, all
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of a sudden they discovered there was deliverance.
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And as we read these stories today, the power of Isaiah is
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that it can be repeated over time.
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These these prophecies, they can, they're dualistic in that
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they can be fulfilled in His day, they can be fulfilled in
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Jesus day, they can be fulfilled in our day and in the future as
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well, repeatedly. And the the secret to unlocking
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that, according to Nephi's interpretation, is Jesus Christ,
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who is mentioned more than any any other chapter.
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When you get to chapter 25, he's He's showing us what I just read
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to you. You should be seeing the
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fingerprints of the Lord throughout this entire story
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that was just told. Which now brings us to chapter
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22. After the children of Israel are
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carried captive, the 10 tribes and the Kingdom of Judah is was
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besieged but finally delivered. Look at the last verse of
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chapter 21. And there shall be a highway for
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the remnant of his people, which shall be left from Assyria, like
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as it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the land
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of Egypt. So he's making this promise that
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as we brought the children of Israel into the promised land
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from Egypt, we're going to have a highway out of Assyria, that
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they're going to be brought back again.
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And verse one of chapter 22. In that day thou shalt say, O
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Lord, I will praise thee, Thou wast angry with me.
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Thine anger is turned away and thou comfortest me.
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Now here is this beautiful, layered perspective in Isaiah's
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writings. He is an amazing historian, but
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he's even a better seer. So he's able to tell the story
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from his day and from his time period that the Lord is going to
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do all of these incredible things and there's going to be
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this peace that is going to be brought among the people back in
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his day. But the the events of his day
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are now lenses through which we can look into the future of the
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Millennium. So you'll notice in our chapter
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heading of Chapter 22, it says in the millennial day, all men
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shall praise the Lord. He shall dwell among them.
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So it's this beautiful chapter of hope.
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If you struggle to understand Isaiah, read chapter 22 because
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it's one of the simple it's it's the shortest, it's one of the
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simplest to understand and it is filled with peace and mercy and
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compassion from Christ as He's delivering and gathering His
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people back into their lands of promise for them.
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So as you read the six verses of chapter 22, it's it's this hope
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filled promise for a millennial day that has been fulfilled at
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other times in history but will ultimately find its fulfillment
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when Christ comes to reign personally upon the earth.
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And when people will say verse 2, Behold, God is my salvation.
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I will trust and not be afraid for the Lord.
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Jehovah is my strength and my song.
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He has also become my salvation. I love that people are now
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looking to God, to the the Lord, God of heaven, the Redeemer, to
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save them, rather than looking to the might of men and armies
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and nations of the earth. Through the history of time, how
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people have looked to those things, and we've seen how that
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history played out. And so as you read the rest of
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those verses in Chapter 22, it's a beautiful foreshadowing of not
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just what the people in the Millennium are going to
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experience, but what we today can experience more fully as we
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trust more and more and more in the Lord God to be our deliverer
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from these conquering Assyrian armies in whatever form they may
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take in our world and in our day, which now shifts us forward
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into Chapter 23 and 24, which is all about Babylon.
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So Isaiah is writing from about 7:40 to to 701 BC with this King
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Sennacherib and Assyrian conquest right there in the
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middle at 721. And now we shift to the time
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period of Babylon, which is 600 BC, the time of Lehigh, about
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100 years after Isaiah. This is beautiful because now
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what you have is instead of Isaiah being just a historian
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telling you about what's going on in his day, he's now being a
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seer looking forward into the future 100 plus years.
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Babylon takes over the region, this, this Fertile Crescent
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area. They become the world's
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dominating power and they are fighting against the the Kingdom
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of Judah who has banded with Egypt to try to deliver them.
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They've they've looked to the Egyptians rather than looking to
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God. And this is at the time of
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Lehigh when he's doing his preaching time of Jeremiah
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Ezekiel, Daniel. This is all their their day and
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age. So when you read chapter 23 and
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24, put on your historical lenses of this time period of
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Babylon coming to destroy them. And it's amazing to watch this
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story play out, these people who have said we don't want you to
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be our God, we want to rely on the Egyptians.
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And these other things are going to get our devotion, not God.
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And so he allows Babylon to come and take them over.
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But then in chapter 23 you get the fall of Babylon.
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And then in 24 you get Isaiah's taunt song.
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He's saying things like verse 10.
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All they shall speak and say unto thee, Art thou also become
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weak as we art? Thou become, like unto us the
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world power. The the nation that conquered
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all of the other nations in that time period, that was flexing
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its might and its muscle, saying we are the best.
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And he's saying you've, you've fallen down, you've become like
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unto us. Keep in mind Babylon, it is is
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one of the wonders of the world, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.
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It is glorious, this Kingdom that was set up, but it becomes
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so proud and haughty that it falls.
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So notice the comparison that Isaiah makes with Babylon, the
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king of Babylon. He says, verse 12.
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How art thou fallen from heaven? O Lucifer, son of the morning,
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art thou cut down to the ground, which did weaken the nations?
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So he's comparing the fall of the king of Babylon to the fall
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of Lucifer, cut down from the heavens.
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Why was he cut down? It's because he said in his
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heart. I will ascend into heaven.
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I will exalt my throne above the stars of God.
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I will sit down upon the mount of the congregation and the
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sides of the north. I will ascend above the heights
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of the clouds. I will be like the Most High.
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So it's this self, self aggrandizement.
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And then the the promised outcome is verse 16.
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They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and
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shall consider thee, and shall say is is this the man narrowly
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look upon thee invokes this idea of of furrowed brow of slits
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looking at somebody narrowly saying, kind of in shock, Is
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this the man that made the earth to tremble and did shake
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kingdoms? Really this is him, that's all
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there is to him. And it's this taunting song to
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show the reality of the majesty of God and the nothingness of
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the kingdoms of the world and the devil.
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Ultimately in comparison to what God can do.
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Verse 27 For the Lord of hosts hath purposed and who shall dis
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annul? And his hand is stretched out.
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Who shall turn it back? When God's hand is mentioned in
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the scriptures, His hand is stretched out still.
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It's usually in the context of delivering either reward or
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punishment for having kept or broken his covenant.
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So if his hand is stretched out, nobody is going to turn back
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what is about to come. It's a natural spiritual
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consequence, either good or bad, depending on how we have
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responded to those covenant connections that He's offered
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us. Now that brings us back to
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chapter 25, where we begin again.
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The keys to unlocking Isaiah are on this the these first eight or
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910 pages, or 10 verses rather. Look at verse 8.
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Wherefore they the words of Isaiah are of worth unto the
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children of men, and he that supposes that they are not unto
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them I will speak particularly and confine the words unto mine
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own people. For I know that they shall be of
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great worth unto them in the last days, for in that day shall
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they understand them. Wherefore for their good have I
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written them? I love that.
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Here's Nephi doing what Isaiah did, speaking prophetically as a
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seer, looking forward to the last day, saying, ah, in the
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last days, those people will love the words of Isaiah because
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they'll be more plain to understand that they'll get
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them. Why?
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Because many of the prophecies that he talked about will find
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ultimate fulfillment not just in Isaiah's history, but especially
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in the time of Christ. And in the last days, you're
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going to more easily see the hand of God.
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Which now brings us to the overview of these these
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concluding chapters that Nephi gives us chapter 2526 and 27,
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telling us here's what I wanted you to get out of Isaiah, and if
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we look carefully, it can be divided this way.
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Chapter 25, verse 12 through 20 is a retelling of Nephi showing
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us how Christ is rejected by his own his own people in his own
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time over in Jerusalem. How they turned their back on
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him. We've seen it in the writings of
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Isaiah how the the people in the Kingdom of Israel and many in
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the Kingdom of Judah rejected him and turned their back on him
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and what happened and how he was merciful and restored them and
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brought them back through Cyrus, the king of Persia.
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But that cycle keeps repeating. Then they reject him again and
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then he himself comes. And so when you're studying
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chapter 25, verse 12 through 20, notice all of these incredible
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statements that Nephi is going to make regarding how Christ is
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rejected by his own. Then in chapter 25, verse 21 all
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the way down through 26 verse 11.
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And remember these chapter breaks that we have added by
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Orson Pratt 1879 edition, they're they're different than
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the chapter breaks Nephi made. So there would have been no no
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separation between chapter 25 and 26 as far as Nephi is
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concerned. It's one continuous thought.
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So in 26 up through 26, verse 11, you get the rejection of
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Christ by the Nephites. So here's Nephi writing this
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book, writing these words of Isaiah, glorying in the
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plainness of the prophecies of Jesus Christ, and then in Vision
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he's showing how his own people are going to turn their back on
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Christ and reject him. And then in chapter 26, verse
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12, through all the way down through the end of chapter 27,
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and we're going to add 28 and 29 because it includes so much
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more. He he extends it this book
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written for our day. He shows how many people in the
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latter days are going to reject the Christ and turn to other
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other sources for their inspiration and for their hoped
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deliverance. So come back now to chapter 25
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and let's look at a couple of of key verses to to finish this
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off, let's jump into verse 19. For according to the words of
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the prophets, the Messiah cometh in 600 years from the time that
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my father left Jerusalem. And according to the words of
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the prophets and also the word of the Angel of God, his name
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shall be Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
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This this page has more reference to Jesus Christ by
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name, by title than any other page of Scripture.
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It is everywhere. Chapter 25 is saturated with the
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Lord Jesus Christ, which isn't that interesting me if I just
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got finished reading these multiple chapters of Isaiah and
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now he's mentioning Christ more than anywhere else in Scripture,
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in high higher density than anywhere else in Scripture.
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I think that's the pattern we should look for when we're
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studying. Isaiah is to keep looking for
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our connections with Christ, to see his hand, his fingerprints
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on the stories that we're reading on the page.
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Then he goes on to say in verse 23, we labour diligently to
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write, to persuade our children and also our brethren to believe
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in Christ and to be reconciled to God.
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For we know that it is by grace that we are saved after all we
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can do. So if you take all those Isaiah
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chapters, all these stories of conquests and deliverance and
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scatterings and gatherings, to recognize it in that context,
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here's Nephi's statement. We know that it is by grace that
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we are saved after all that we can do.
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You can assemble your armies. You can build your cities, You
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can build up kingdoms, but after all that you can do everything
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you can try to do. Salvation only comes through
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Jesus Christ. Our hope and our deliverance is
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only found in him. And so this most famous verse
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26. We talk of Christ.
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We rejoice in Christ. We preach of Christ.
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We prophecy of Christ. And we write according to our
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prophecies that our children may know to what source they may
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look for remission of their sins, brothers and sisters.
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We may not have an Assyrian army led by King Sennacherib coming
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into our neighborhood. We may not have the King of
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Babylon coming in and destroying our city and and burning our
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temples, but we have a lot of opposition.
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There's a lot of sin, there's a lot of discouragement.
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There are a lot of problems. There are a lot of challenges
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that every one of us face. And I love this, this verse, I
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love this whole chapter. I love, I love what Nephi's done
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with Isaiah to point us to Christ so that our thoughts, our
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devotion, our trust, our faith is rooted in the only place
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where we have hope for deliverance, and that is in
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Christ. I love him with all my heart,
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and I'm grateful for his tender mercies in my life and in the
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life of my family, to help us overcome these struggles and
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these conflicts, both internal and external difficulties, that
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we face. It's all through Christ that we
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have hope. I love him, and I want to to
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more than ever before, after a study of Isaiah, to be able to
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say with all my heart, I want thee to be my God, and I want to
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be thy Son, a child of the covenant, a disciple of Christ.
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And I leave that with you in the name Jesus Christ.
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Amen. Know that you're loved.